Avengers: Other Worlds
by Ink Spotz
Summary: All the Avengers have gone their separate ways to take a break after the endgame. That is until the multiverse portals that Tony Stark opened up with his snap start to increase. Sam and Bucky are dispatched to take care of a new vigilante that SHIELD thinks has come from one of these other worlds. What they thought would be an easy mission turns out to be their hardest one yet.
1. Prologue

"_Strange lights light up the skylines of Manhattan tonight. It reminds some people of the Aurora Borealis..." _

"_It has been two weeks now since the lights in the sky have appeared, and things are not the same. But can they ever really be that way after the end game?..."_

"_Where are our Avengers? Has anyone even seen them? I told you they were a bunch of phonies. Just glorified cosplayin' adults. This world can survive without them..."_

"_Mayhem is on the rise in the Manhattan area. Many adults are afraid to let their children out past dark…"_

"_It's the full moon! I tell you. The people go nuts when the full moon is out!"_

"_You really have to stop and wonder what all these events did to the mentality of our former heroes. The death of Tony Stark truly was the end of an era. Now look at our fair city. It's not the same. Nothing will be the same…It's like we're on another world.."_

"_Looking at these beautiful lights in the sky is like staring into the faces of **other worlds**..." _


	2. Chapter 1

It had been several months since the events had taken place, and much had changed with the Avengers. The death of Tony Stark and the retirement of Steve Rogers had taken its toll. The Avengers had dispersed in a variety of directions and allowed themselves a bit of a reprieve (if there ever was such a thing for a hero). The only Avengers to stick around the Manhattan area were Sam Wilson and James Buchanan Barnes. James spent a good majority of his time after everyone dispersed taking care of Steve, who grew ill shortly afterward. Steve didn't want James to be worrying about him, but they fell into the familiar pattern of the past.

"You suck at Blackjack," said James as he sat cross-legged at the foot of Steve's bed, tossing the cards down onto the comforter in fake exasperation.

A faint laugh fell from Steve's mouth as he looked at his friend, lying his cards down on the comforter in a gentler manner.

"I never did have much of a poker face, James. Out of everyone, you should..."

James looked up from the cards at Steve when he noticed that what he had been about to say dragged itself out. He arched a brow, worried for half a moment that something was wrong with his best friend.

"Steve? Are you okay?"

"Don't you hear that noise?" asked Steve then as James frowned a bit more. Was Steve really losing his mind too along with his health? Before he could say anything more, he too heard the noise that Steve was talking about. It sounded a bit like chirping. Getting up from the bed, he moved to go rummage through his coat pockets to extract his cell phone.

"It's Sam," said James to Steve. "How'd you hear that anyway?"

"Super soldier, remember? I have super sensitive hearing," teased Steve; his eyes crinkling in the corners as he laughed.

James rolled his eyes as he picked up the phone call.

"What is it, Sam?...Look, I can't...No, don't even start with that. I'm retired. I'm an old man...Yeah, goodbye."

"Well that call didn't last very long," said Steve as he watched James hang up the cell phone, pocketing it in his jeans as he made his way back over to sit at the foot of the bed. "What did Sam want?"

"He wants me to work on hero training with him. Fury said he had to start training for upcoming missions, and Sam wants a partner," said James as he bent his head to pick up the cards to shuffle them again.

"I think you should do it, Buck..." said Steve softly then.

James looked up from the shuffling then at Steve. He locked his eyes on his and just remained silent for a minute.

"My trying to be a hero didn't work out so well last time, Steve, if you don't remember."

James looked back down at his shuffling then; his fingers making intense work of the shuffling. One of Steve's hands reached out then to still James' hands.

"Bucky, I think you need to face this demon from your past. You can't let it define you. You need redemption."

"My redemption is being here with you to take care of you. Like old times," said James, still not able to lift his eyes to make eye contact with Steve.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," said Steve, "And you need to not be stupid, jerk. You know deep down that you need an opportunity like this."

"You're such a punk, you know that?" asked James softly then as he finally made eye contact with Steve. He set the haphazardly shuffled deck of cards on the comforter as he brought out his cell phone again.

"Hello. It's me...Sam, I know you're happy to hear from me, but Adele's _Hello _coming from your mouth right now is making me have second thoughts..."

* * *

"Sam, are you coming?" called out James from his slouched spot on the couch.

After he had talked to Sam, Sam had convinced James to come over to his place to start watching video tutorials filmed by "your ever lovin' star mcspangled captain." James had tried to ask Steve about the videos Sam was telling him about only to get an impish laugh from his friend followed up by a, "Just wait and see." It only took James a half hour to ride his motorcycle over to Sam's house. He was ready to get this started before he started to have second thoughts again.

"Geez...just hang on!" called Sam from the kitchen followed by the sound of a bag of chips popping open. James could hear them tinkling out into a bowl. "I'm coming! Just keep your pants on!"

James rolled his eyes, puffing his cheeks as he stared at the ceiling. When he heard footsteps echoing off the floor, he brought his head back down to see that Sam was entering the room carrying a bowl of chips in his hands. He had a huge smile on his face as he sat them on the coffee table by James' legs as he moved towards his television.

"Had to grab some Doritos before we watch _the _Dorito," remarked Sam as he stayed on his knees in front of the television, playing with some wires as he tried to make sure the VCR was properly hooked up.

"Dorito? How did Steve get that nickname?" asked James as he leaned forward to observe the triangular orange chips before plucking one from the bowl to put in his mouth.

"Dude, come on! Surely you've seen the memes on the internet."

"Seriously _dude_ I've barely figured out how to use my Tracfone. You really think I can go on the internet to look up memes? I don't even know what memes are."

Sam finished fiddling with the wires behind the television set as he rose to his feet and walked back to James on the couch, plopping down beside him.

"Who got you a Tracfone? That's so...primitive..."

James rolled his eyes again as he looked at the blank television set in front of him.

"We're not here to discuss how primitive I am. I thought we were here to watch...what was it called again?"

"It's called 'How to be America's Hero' by yours truly, Captain America. It's such a dull title. You would have thought that they would have created something more creative or..."

"Sam...Just start the video please," said James.

"A big barrel of fun you are," said Sam with a snort as he turned to grab the remotes off a side table. He turned the television on before pressing 'play' for the tape to start.

"_If you're watching this video, or more specifically this video set, that means the time has come for you to take up the mantle and be the hero that America deserves. The first thing that you must do..." _

Watching his friend the way that he had been before going back in time to spend his life with Peggy filled James with sadness. He was never good at goodbyes. Even when he had left to go to war back in the 40s, he couldn't leave without a final goodbye to his best friend. All along, he knew that Steve was truly in love with Peggy more than he had ever been with anyone else. He always had a feeling that he knew Steve would do anything to get home to Peggy, and he had. The "I'm going to miss you" that had fallen from James' mouth before Steve was about to go back to return the stones was genuine. Everything was finally falling into place. Both of them – battered soldiers at their best – were ready to return home from war. Home was just two different places for the both of them.

A Dorito slapped James in the mouth then, causing him to jerk out of his thoughts. He looked over at Sam beside him who had that impish look of innocence on his face. Seeing James' narrowed gaze only caused Sam to shrug in defense.

"You were zoning out on me. You missed most of the first tape. Look...it's at the end now as it is."

James turned his attention back to the screen to see that Captain America had taken a seat and was having as much of a heart-to-heart with the viewer as was possible from a video recording.

"_The key to being a really good hero is believing in yourself. Even if the world doesn't believe in you, you need to have faith in your ability to save the world and get the job done. Now get out there, my fellow hero. The world is rooting for you and so am I." _

Those final few sentences felt directed towards James so much that it caused his chest to ache. He could only hope that he'd be that man that Steve had so much faith in. He didn't want to let him down.

"Come on, James," said Sam as he stood up from the couch. "We need to get training!"

Standing up reluctantly from the couch, James moved to follow Sam towards the front door. He promised Steve before leaving his place that he would try his best with all this. He was going to be a man of his word.

* * *

"Whoa! Sam, slow down! You're going to get us killed!"

James had been riding shotgun in Sam's car for the last five minutes, and was sure that he had seen his life flash before his eyes at least four times in that length of time. He was gripping the arm rests on either side of him tightly in his hands as Sam came to a stop at a stop light.

"You have such little faith in me, Bucko."

"Maybe it's because you drive like the cops are after you, which they _will _be if you keep driving like that. And don't call me Bucko."

"Aww! You're no fun, Buck my man," groaned Sam as the light changed from red to green. James let out a small moan as the car jerked forward. Before James realized it, the car had picked up speed again.

"I hate you. I really do..." said James as he closed his eyes to keep the wave of nausea down. He really didn't know how Sam avoided getting a speeding ticket.

"And here I was thinking you didn't care," said Sam before casting a sideways glance at James. "Stop gripping the armrests so tight. You're going to hurt her."

"Hurt _her_?" James opened both his eyes again to look over at Sam. "Oh please tell me that you didn't personify your car..."

"Shhh...Don't listen to him, baby," cooed Sam as he gently rubbed a hand over his steering wheel as he sped along before addressing James by saying, "And yes, it is a she. A sleek and beautiful she."

"You know you're pathetic, right? Absolutely pathetic."

James turned away from Sam with a shake of his head as a smirk took over Sam's face. He jerked the wheel of the car sharply to the right as he turned the corner. The sharp turn caused James' face to smack into the window. An 'ouch' echoed out through the car as James rubbed his sore right cheek. Sam laughed.

"Stop insulting me and my car and I'll slow up on the gas, old man."

"Stop trying to find nicknames for me," said James sharply as he kept rubbing at his cheek. "Bucky is enough of a nickname."

"Well, _you're _no fun. Don't you sucky."

James turned to glare daggers in Sam's direction then. He didn't understand how Steve became friends with Sam so quickly. Maybe Steve had been won over by the supposed charm that just was a source of irritation for him.

"I've said it once and I'll say it again because the truth bears repeating," said James. "I hate you."

"Oh wow! I'm touched! That's – what – the tenth 'I hate you' in the past hour?"

"That's not something you should be proud of," said James as he looked out the window. His stomach and him both hoping that they'd reach their destination soon.

"Of course it's something to be proud of! I'm trying to beat my record here, Bucks."

"You're about have something broken all right, but it's not going to be your record..." mumbled James as the car (thankfully) pulled to a stop outside a building of some sort.

* * *

"Remind me again why you can't be climbing this rock wall with me?" asked James as he stood in front of Sam with a harness and helmet on. He looked like the least amused person in the room. Several younger kids were clambering up the walls with squeals and giggles. Some sort of 80s retro beat was pumping through the speakers in the room.

"We're going to pretend I'm fighting off some baddies down here and you, mister metal arm, will have to scale the wall to stop the bomb from detonating. To stop it..." Sam laid a hand on James' shoulder then to turn him around, pointing a finger up at the button at the very top of the rock wall, "you will have to hit that button."

Olivia Newton John's song _Physical _came over the speakers then as James let out a heavy sigh before moving towards the rock wall. He studied the brightly colored rocks for a moment to try to find a good starting place before starting his way up. Sam moved to be his spotter with the ropes. Sam was humming the song as he kept letting out the rope so that James could steadily climb higher.

"We...should have gotten Spider-Boy to diffuse the bomb. If we're gonna improvise and all..."

"He's not even around right now. He's in Italy – last I heard – so that's crappy improvisation on your part, Bucks, and it's Spider-Man. Not Spider-Boy."

"He's like fifteen, Sam," remarked James as he strained up with a hand to grab a yellow rock, hoisting his body up higher. "That's a boy."

"Well, just don't let him hear you call him that, or he will go instant kill mode all over you."

As James continued his ascent up the rock wall, Nick Fury walked through the doors. He squinted a distasteful look over at Sam and James, watching as James tried to wait patiently for a teenager near him to decide whether he was going to grab the same rock as James or not. Nick walked over, moving to stand beside Sam.

"What are you mother f- doing?"

Sam turned his head to the side then after adjusting the rope again. He gave an overly friendly smile Fury's way as Fury continued to look from him to James in an unamused fashion. Sam chuckled, turning back to look at James on the rock wall above him.

"Hey Bucky! Look who came to join the party!"

As James turned to look down at the ground, he saw Sam start to move his head from side-to-side as he started mouthing the chorus of _Physical _in Fury's passive face.

"You're going to make Fury furious, Sam. I can see the rage from here," said James, thinking that he might at least be saved from having to do the rock wall.

"Buckso, stop trying to rain on my parade."

"Knock off the nicknames, Dingbat."

"You're the dingbat!" called up Sam then as he turned his gaze back up to James. "And the nicknaming works both ways, you know!"

"Awww...isn't this cute? You two are being so domestic," said Fury mockingly then before saying, "Both of you get your issues in my car. Now."

"Do we have an assignment?" asked Sam as he turned back to Fury.

"Possibly. I'm starting to have second thoughts about giving you both this assignment though seeing as you two are getting along so well, but you're the only ones around right now. Heaven help us all."

"You're in luck, Buck! We have an assignment! You can come down now!"

James sighed, looking up at the button above him. The 80s music faded away as he stared upwards. There was a distinct sound of wind. The AC in the building morphing into the cold of snow. A hand stretching down from above.

"_Just grab my hand!_" came the desperate voice of a friend whose eyes pleaded with him to reach out. To try.

The same hand was the one that had wrapped about his as he was told to do this with Sam and face his demons. He closed his eyes, shutting the flashbacks off and storing the horrors away. He had a mission. He had to keep Steve's words in mind.

_The world is rooting for you and so am I. _


End file.
